With the awareness of the public regarding contaminated foods, the requirements for sanitation are greater than ever before. The requirements for sanitation these days are so extreme, that there is a even a substantial amount of interference with the enjoyment of the ever popular ice cream cone.
Customarily, edible containers known as cones are manufactured, nested or stacked one within another, packaged, and shipped to an end user. Each cone is removed from the package one at a time, is filled with ice cream or a similar food, and is sold by the end users to a consumer. Customarily, there is no cover on each cone as it is removed from the package. So a cone, first removed from the package, can come into direct skin contact with someone other than the end consumer.
Since the development of the ice cream cone at the St. Louis World's Fair about one hundred years ago, an ice cream cone is known to produce great enjoyment. An ice cream store can have many varieties of ice cream and hand pack the desired flavor into the desired cone. It is difficult to accomplish this function under the extreme sanitary conditions of today.
These and other factors are thoroughly discussed in U.S. Pat. 5,379,569; incorporated herein by reference. The referenced patent and this application have the same inventive entity.
Typical cone shapes for receiving ice cream are those pointed cones, which have a geometric cone shape and taper to a point at one end, and those flat based cones, which have a flat base in order to permit the cone to stand upright unsupported on a flat surface and contain ice cream or other food therein. Both the flat based cones and the pointed cones need protection. The cited patent shows an efficient paper protection application to a flat based cone, only to the base of the flat based cone.
If such a procedure can applied to both types of cones, great advantages are achieved. Such advantages are further increased if the same machine can treat the pointed cone and the flat-based cone, especially with little or no modification.
Typically, cones are shipped in a stacked relation. Unfortunately, such stacking can result in one cone adhering to an adjacent cone. Such adherence greatly interferes with the dispensing of the cone. If stacking efficiency can be maintained, while avoiding the adherence, great advantages can be obtained.
However, sanitation and cleanliness are even more important in the food industry. It is difficult to avoid direct skin to food contact in an ice cream cone. With the widespread fear of infectious disease, the enjoyment of an ice cream cone can be substantially reduced.
Furthermore, a cone containing ice cream is known to leak. When a cone leaks, at least the person's hands become soiled or sticky. Such stickiness is uncomfortable at best and damaging to a person's clothes at worst.
Also, it is advisable to have a cleaning device available for solving this problem. If the cone can be protected while at the same time providing this cleaning device, a great advantage is obtained.